Proposals for a New Year

This year I haven’t made any resolutions. What I have done is set some goals, or maybe let’s call them proposals = less about achieving something and more about focusing the crazy which lives in my mind. I originally started writing about gardening on this blog but for those who follow will know I get on some tangent and run with it for a little while. I wish that I posted more about what I’m actually working on, but I find it difficult to muster up the dedication it requires to sit at the computer and write.

Proposal #1: Write about all the stuff I do. I take classes, learn new art forms, invent recipes, make things from scratch (like soap), learn how to grow stuff, etc, etc, etc. I need to write this all down somewhere and perhaps I’ll slow down enough to actually think about what I’m working on.

I think that staying still long enough to write down what I’m working on will help me also corral the ideas stampeding in my head. This brings me to another proposal:

Proposal #2: Connect Four. Have you ever played the board game Connect Four? The idea of the game is to build a line of four tiles on the board before your opponent does. I have a boatload (Titanic maybe?) of projects that have three tiles all lined up just waiting for that fourth (aka: the finishing touch). The plan is to start digging out projects once a week and FINISHING THEM. What I’ll do with them is another story, but I do see an Etsy site in my near future.

That’s it. Two proposals. And I started this week. Progress so far? Well, it’s been a bit like trying to catch a hyper, slippery fish. I fight against sitting at the computer (it’s sunny out/I should go to the park, I need to make cupcakes/the shower is on Friday, I feel like ginger ale/I bet I can make some from this gingerroot) and I’m not overly eager to pull out 3-tiled projects (where’s the excitement? The drama of something new?)

I did start to catch a few fish though. I’m sitting here writing now and I’ve been getting back in touch with some of my abandoned projects. Not a bad start and it’s so very interesting to me how difficult it is to channel my focus. I’m looking forward to more self-discovery as I work through these proposals because after all, I did enjoy writing this when I finally sat down. Perhaps a little discipline and structure will help this slippery fish.

What an amazing image those jellyfish are for this post. They embody exactly what my “to do” list looks like in my head. It’s there, the free floating forms of somewhat transparent ideas, waiting for me to try and grab hold. But often, that’s as far as I get. There is always something else… always.

Good resolutions. My biggest problem with posting what I’m working on is not the writing part, it’s the photo part. I never seem to want to haul out (makes it sound much more difficult than it is) the camera to take photos for the step-by-step. I hate it actually. When I’m in project mode I like to get in, get creative and finish. I hate the step back, wipe off my hands,’click’ portion of it.

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